… again, always. :)

And a 4-day long weekend? We must go!

First stop: Big Bear! We’ve decided we’ll probably try to do a short day or two here every season since it’s a smaller resort on the Ikon pass.

Good practice runs for E.

Then it was off to Joshua Tree National Park which we’ve been itching to visit.

We went to their weekend farmer’s market for some food, souvenirs and shopping to get oriented.

Then we drove into the park.

Some Skull Rock scrambling and climbing… E was in heaven.

We got into some pretty tight spots.

We drove to some more scenic areas and then decided to hike Ryan Mountain which was supposed to have magnificent views at the top.

Made it and definitely well worth it!

King of the mountain… err, rocks?

We spent quite a bit of time on the peak, just soaking in the views off to the horizon.

Hands in air before the descent…

Must take a pic by a Joshua tree, of course.

Dear God, help me to make it back down again. J/K!

Whose hands? :)

No pics since it was pitch black but we attended the Sky’s the Limit observatory for their weekend star party at night. Stars as far as the eye could see like no other! And we also got to view through some special telescopes.

Getting interrogated by the park ranger the next day. :P

To become a junior ranger! Taking a very serious oath…

All sworn in, with a nifty badge to boot.

We allowed a whole day to drive back with plenty of stops along the way… Desert Christ Park was an interesting sculpture garden of Biblical figures off the highway, envisioned as a symbol for world peace.

The boys w/ JC. :)

Then we went to Sam Cobb date farms — they apparently have the best dates in the area.

We chatted with Sam’s wife, who was the nicest lady, and she let us mill around the farm a bit. They also do tours but we didn’t schedule one ahead of time so we may come back for that another trip. And yes, their dates are gooooood.

Next stop was the Coachella Valley Preserve, which is actually located on the trace of the San Andreas Fault.

It is also part of the Thousand Palms Oasis and we enjoyed walking through all the majestic palms.

Daddy had a hankering for a date shake so we decided to go to Shields Date Garden — definitely a tourist attraction!

We stopped for some Laguna mountain views on the way home… Catch us back at all these places, soonest. :)